Our Home, Nine Months Later

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Nine months ago, almost to the day, Jamie and I moved into our first home in the Crestwood neighborhood of Birmingham. Since then, I’ve spent many, many, MANY hours stripping, painting, caulking, sanding, building, drilling, rearranging, IKEA-ing, antiquing, assembling, Pinterest-ing, problem-solving, and cleaning, and as of this past weekend, literally hours before our cousins Lindsay and Michael arrived to spend the weekend with us, I swept up the last of the dog hair, looked around, and finally felt like it was truly our home. By no means is it 100% finished (I don’t know that I’ll ever consider anywhere we live “finished”), and there are still projects to be done, but since I’ve got family members and friends who are anxious to get a glimpse of where we live, I thought it was time to share some photos of our humble abode now that we’ve settled in.

I’m not entirely sure how I would describe my style. I do love mid century lines and colors, but I also like a little bit of Southern coziness and a dash of kitschiness. Although I love seeing photographs of more minimalist spaces with white walls and sparse decorating, I just feel like for my own home, I need it to feel lived in. Like it won’t be the end of the world if something gets a little dirty or if mail piles up on the table (since both often happen). Trust me… this is the cleanest it will ever look. I don’t want to give anyone any false impressions of having a neat and tidy life, because it’s far from it. But in an ideal world, this is what my house would look like ALL the time. :)

Oh, and if you’re interested, you can see photos of the house as it was when the previous homeowners lived in it HERE. I completely forgot in my excitement on moving in to take true “before” photos, but you can kind of get an idea of what it was like before I did all THIS to it. You can also read about our first-time-homebuying-experience here and my adventures in learning how to use tools here. Enjoy!

The kitchen was a definite selling point for this house. The previous homeowners did a great job with the layout and finishes they selected, and I love the cork floors they chose. We were also pretty stoked about the butler’s pantry. Though every wall and trim surface needed repair and multiple coats of fresh paint, I love how it turned out with the taupe-y gray and cream color combo. And that Orla Kiely wallpaper? Love of my life! I had been eyeing it for months and finally decided to take the plunge. How perfect is it?!

I was so sad to hear that Knoxville-based Yee-Haw Letterpress was closing this past spring, so I of course had to stock up on some of my favorite prints to display. They make me so happy every time I look at them!

This is one of Gretchen’s favorite spots in the house… right by the food bowl!

The guest room is one of my favorites in the house. It’s what I spent most of the first half of August working on, and I’m pretty excited by how it turned out. I really wanted a campy, cozy, nostalgic feel (I’d be lying if I said seeing Moonrise Kingdom didn’t inspire some of that!).

Our bedroom is still a bit of a work in progress. The tile ceilings are kind of a mess (as is our wrinkly duvet, obviously), but I do love the deep turquoise wall color and the “Call Again” poster I first bought for Jamie’s college apartment 6 years ago. The IKEA curtains also seemed to be a good fit, so overall I’m pretty happy, but there’s always room for improvement. ;)

And here’s my home office again! For more photos, you can see the original post from back in January here.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our home! I know Jamie, for one, is thrilled I’m (mostly) done with it, because he insists I get very grumpy when I’m on a ladder with a paint roller in hand. ;) If you have any questions about any of it, feel free to comment below or shoot me an email at morgan@morgantrinker.com. I’d love to swap ideas!

Gail-Oh Morgan, it’s PERFECT!!!! So so happy for you (and so so jealous of that awesome space you call home!) LOVE how airy and breezy it all feels! Kudos, friend! MAN, how I wish we lived closer. Everything about you always smacks “sister from another mother” to me – haha! LOVE LOVE LOVE your taste!!!!!

Kaylan-LOVE your home Morgan! Absolutely beautiful job, love all the natural light and the bright colors. I was wondering where you got the side table/nightstand for the guest bedroom?

Serena Severtson-Oh my goodness – your home is like my Dream! I LOVE hardwood flooring, the wall colors, and all the pops of color when it comes to your furniture/decor! So beautiful, Morgan. You guys did a fabulous job! :)

hyla -Love it by the way! We just bought our home in May and it’s been a work in progress!

Caity Shinnick-Morgan – it is fabulous! I just love it. It makes me want to redo my entire house!!! Like Morgan Trinker inspired, Caity Shinnick style. Paula and I were just talking about how cute we thought your house would be!

Kirralee-Very beautiful! I love all the colour and the vintage ideas :)

Rachel -Hi Morgan! My husband and I are moving to Birmingham in two weeks and getting excited about decorating our new place. We’re also going to live in the Crestwood area, so I guess we’ll be neighbors in a way! Do you mind sharing the names of the vintage stores where you bought your furniture? We’re definitely going to need some and I love your style!

Nesting with Morgan Trinker » The Birmingham Bride-[...] of you may remember that metal army-green end table I made for the guest room in OUR LAST HOUSE. I love how it ties in with the greens and golds of the fireplace while introducing a more modern, [...]